Adventitious root culture for secondary metabolite production in medicinal plants: A Review

Medicinal plants are high-value natural resources that have been used as precautionary drugs by many people globally. The increasing global demand for bioactive compounds from medicinal plants has led to the overexploitation of many valuable species. One widely used approach to overcome this problem is the use of adventitious root cultures as a propagation strategy. This review examines the scientific research published globally on the application of adventitious root cultures for many medicinal plants. Adventitious roots generated under aseptic environments in suitable phytohormone-augmented medium exhibit high growth rates and production of important secondary metabolites. Parameters such as medium properties and composition, growth hormone type, and elicitation strategies for in vitro grown adventitious roots of medicinal plants, are the main topics discussed in this review. We also examine current developments in bioreactor system cultivation for plant bioactive compounds using adventitious root cultures, a technology with possible commercial applications, via several studies on adventitious root culture of medicinal plants in which bioreactor systems play a role. In conclusion, the development of adventitious root cultures for medicinal plants is highly useful because of their capability for vegetative propagation and germplasm preservation.